Houthis claim attacks on Saudi tankers in Red Sea, raising shipping and Gulf tension fears

The missile struck a tanker 63 nautical miles west of Yanbu, setting it ablaze, in the latest strike under the Houthis' announced blockade of Saudi Arabia, threatening its ability to export millions of barrels of crude oil per day.

The armed group, based in Yemen and backed by Iran, said it had launched missiles near the vital maritime trade route, in a conflict that shows no sign of abating.

Renewed Yemen violence and Tehran's refusal to reopen Hormuz raise war fears, as a Syrian court also sentenced Assad to death.

Saudi Arabia has not commented on the claim by the Houthis, who are backed by Iran and have vowed to close “all access routes” to Saudi oil shipments.

Yemen’s Houthi militant group said it would attack Saudi oil tankers in the northern Red Sea, a potential fresh escalation in its attacks on shipping.

SANAA, Yemen — Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis said on Wednesday that they attacked a Saudi oil tanker off Yanbu, in the Red Sea, as the rebels pressed on with their declared maritime blockade of the kingdom. This was the eighth Saudi oil tanker targeted since the start of the blockade on July 22, a Houthi military spokesman said. The group “successfully targeted the Saudi oil tanker ‘Wafa’ in the northern Red Sea, off the coast of Yanbu, with a number of ballistic missiles,” Yahya Saree said in a video statement. READ: US eyes Strait of Hormuz deal ‘today or tomorrow;’ ship sinks […]...Keep on reading: Yemen's Houthis say attacked Saudi oil tanker in the Red Sea